The passantini make the bag.

For the record, I absolutely love hand sewing. As you saw in a previous post, I had to puncture the leather before attaching this piece to the bag in order to create the holes through which the hand needle will pass. Then, once glued down, I had to puncture the holes again so I could create a "path" through all of the layers of the leather. Each hand stitched component is sewn with double needles: one passing through from the top, the other from the bottom. When they pass each other they create the loop which becomes the stitches that hold it in place. The two pieces that cover the zipper (one shown above) have too much material to pass through the machine. I like it because you have a lot more control over the stitches. Sorry, Acci, I still love you, but I love my hand sewing needles more.

This photograph is entitled "what to do versus what not to do," featuring from left to right: what not to do, and what to do. I was in what I believed to be the final stage of my bag, working on the "maniglie," handles. I was so anxious to finish that I cut these pretty quickly, and while to the untrained eye they may look nearly perfect, they were ever so slightly off. I did not put  enough glue down so I sliced into the salpa in a few locations on the handles. I could have covered up the blemishes when I painted the edges, but I could not let the last component of the bag I have been working on for two months be anything less than perfect. The two replacement "maniglie" on the right (what to do) represent one entire day's worth of work.

Yesterday my maestro turned to me and said, "Amanda, you are going to finish your bag tomorrow morning. I nearly screamed in excitement, as I have been working on this bag for what feels like forever. Then he continues.. "Oh wait.. the passantini."

Passantini are the small rings that hold something like a belt down when you buckle it. These are the details that make or break a bag. You can easily tell the quality and workmanship of anything just by looking at the small details such as these.  My bag features twelve. These pieces are tiny, but take a very long time to make. See the photo above? That was my day today. Six long hours and 12 passantini later... I am nearly done.

Unless I have to put more passantini on my bag (when Mao mentioned it I almost hit him) I should be finished with my very first bag tomorrow morning. Right now I am finalizing the placement of the holes on the incredible adjustable maniglie. And then... I will move right onto the next...